Northwestern College (Iowa)

For other universities with a similar name, see Northwestern University (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 42°59′56″N 96°03′25″W / 42.999°N 96.057°W / 42.999; -96.057

Northwestern College (Iowa)
Former names
Northwestern Junior College, Northwestern Classical Academy
Motto "God Is Light" (Deus Est Lux)
Type Private
Established 1882
Affiliation Reformed Church in America
Endowment $46.7 million USD (as of 6/30/15) [1]
President Gregory E. Christy
Provost Kent Eaton
Academic staff
145
Administrative staff
178
Undergraduates 1,210 (2015-16) [2]
Location Orange City, Iowa, U.S.
Campus Rural, 100 acres (0.4 km2)
Colors Red and White         
Website http://www.nwciowa.edu

Northwestern College (NWC) is a private Christian Liberal arts college with more than 1200 students located in Orange City, Iowa. It is also known as Northwestern IA. It is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Northwestern began as an academy in 1882. It was then upgraded to junior college status in 1928. In 1961, it became the four-year institution it is today.

Northwestern has been accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since 1953.[3] In addition, the Athletic Training, Business, Education, Nursing and Social Work programs are accredited by their respective accreditation organizations.[4]

Athletically, Northwestern competes as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Division II, within the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC).

Mission statement

The college's official mission statement is: "Northwestern College is a Christian academic community engaging students in courageous and faithful learning and living that empowers them to follow Christ and pursue God’s redeeming work in the world." [5]

College community

Northwestern College is an educational institution made up of approximately 1200 students and 300 faculty and staff [6] located in Orange City, a rural community of 6004 residents in Sioux County, Iowa.[7] The campus itself is a few blocks south of the downtown area, centered on the intersection of State Highway 10 and Albany Avenue.

Leadership

The NWC community is governed by a Board of Trustees which is chaired by Martin Guthmiller. Approximately half of its members represent the RCA denomination.[8] There is also a Student Government Association.[9]

Greg Christy is the President of the college. He is assisted by a leadership team called the Administrative Council.[10]

President Christy began with NWC in 2008. He had previously served as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, an institution he served at for twelve years. Prior to that, he had held positions on the staffs of South Dakota State University and Iowa State University. Christy holds a bachelor's degree in management from Simpson College along with a master's degree in physical education and sports management from Western Illinois University.[11]

Dr. Kent Eaton serves as the college's Provost in an interim capacity.[10]

Campus culture

Northwestern College expresses its identity as a "Reformed, evangelical and ecumenical" community, viewing these three Christian theological perspectives as complementary and drawing strengths from each perspective to fulfill its mission.[12] Chapel is offered two days a week in addition to a student-led Sunday evening praise and worship night. [13]

As an intentionally Reformed, Christian academic community, NWC has adopted a Vision for Learning "rooted in the wisdom of the Bible" where they "view learning as worship, using our minds to better understand, serve and love God's world." An institutional commitment to engagement is an important part of that, by "participating in God's redemptive work" and seeking "to respond to God's call to share the gospel, care for creation and serve Christ in everyone." As a logical outgrowth of that vision, an education at NWC is designed to prepare students to:[14]

Demographics

There were a total of 1205 students as of the 2014-15 school year - 709 women and 496 men. Roughly half of the student population attending NWC comes from the state of Iowa and two-thirds of its students come from the three mid-western states: Iowa (649 students), South Dakota (102), and Minnesota (90). The top six Christian denominations represented at the college are: Reformed/RCA (265), Lutheran (102), Evangelical Free (94), Baptist (81), Roman Catholic (76), and Christian Reformed (66). More than 10% (157) of NWC students are identified as ethnic minorities or international students.[15]

Student residences

  • Colenbrander Hall - Men
  • North Suites - Men
  • Fern Smith Hall - Women
  • Stegenga Hall - Women
  • Hospers Hall - Men
  • Bolks Apartments - Uni-gender units
  • Courtyard Village Apartments - Uni-gender units
  • Vanderhill Cottage

Student groups and clubs on campus

Events and traditions

Academic buildings

This is Zwemer Hall, the oldest building on campus. It contains offices for the registrar, admissions, financial aid, president, and other administrative departments.

Administrative facilities

Recognition

Notable people

Alumni

Staff and faculty

Students in the news

Missions opportunities

Spring service projects

For college students all over the country, spring break means road trips to big cities and balmy beaches. Northwestern students do that too, but some of them pack a hammer. Northwestern College annually sends more than 200 students, faculty and staff in teams to serve with ministries in the U.S. and around the world. SSP teams have traveled to Nicaragua and the Netherlands, to California, New York, Oklahoma and Florida. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities have been frequent destinations. SSP teams build and repair homes, minister in prisons, tutor at youth centers, serve in soup kitchens, live with residents in homeless shelters and more.

Spring Service Projects integrate faith, service and cross-cultural learning within a team setting that also allows for the involvement of faculty and staff. The SSP program benefits both the ministries and the students who serve: The efforts of a variety of ministries are encouraged, supported and helped in tangible ways. In addition, Northwestern students are challenged and strengthened in their faith as they see and experience the gospel being lived out in cultures different than the one in which they live.

Spring Service Projects provide students opportunities to participate in mission work taking place domestically and abroad during annual spring breaks in early March. Students have spent their ten-day breaks serving in city missions, youth hostels, construction sites, disaster relief zones, and low-income schools.[39]

Summer of Service

The Summer of Service (SOS) program at Northwestern College challenges, prepares and encourages students to be effective Christian servants in the world. It also exists to assist and support missionaries and the communities they work in. Each year, 20 to 25 students serve cross-culturally for at least six weeks in the U.S. or overseas. Past participants have traveled to countries like Croatia, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Malawi, Russia, South Africa and Thailand to serve with mission agencies like The Luke Society, Dublin Christian Mission, Pioneers International and TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission). They have worked in hospitals, orphanages and refugee camps; taught Vacation Bible School and English as a second language; and served in sports and hospitality ministries.

Summer of Service team members return from their summer experiences more aware of the world’s problems and promises and more equipped to wrestle with biblical applications to what they experienced. Often these students remain involved in service and mission, either full- or part-time after graduating from college.[40]

Recent sites served include[41]

Musical opportunities

Northwestern offers ten unique musical opportunities for students. Three of these are vocal ensembles and seven are instrumental.

Athletics

Northwestern College teams are known as the Red Raiders. The college is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), competing in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, track & field and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cheerleading, cross country, dance, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

Outdoor sports such as football and track are played at DeValois Stadium.

Club sport teams include dance and in years past men's lacrosse.

National championships

The 2001 "double" (men's and women's basketball titles) was the first time that an NAIA school accomplished the feat, and at the time only the second in collegiate history (Central Missouri State, now known as the University of Central Missouri (located in Warrensburg, Missouri) previously accomplished the feat in 1984; the University of Connecticut would later accomplish the feat in 2004).

National runners-up

References

  1. http://www.nwciowa.edu/about/at-a-glance/
  2. http://www.nwciowa.edu/news/press/3833/northwestern-college-enrollment-increases
  3. "Accredited Institutions". The Higher Learning Commission. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  4. "NWC Accreditations". Northwestern College. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  5. "NWC Mission". Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  6. "NWC At-A-Glance (2014-15)". Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  7. "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  8. "NWC Board of Trustees". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  9. "NWC SGA". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "NWC Leadership". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  11. "NWC President". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  12. "NWC Christian Identity". Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  13. "Faith at NWC". Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  14. "NWC Vision". Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  15. "NWC At-A-Glance (2014-15)". Northwestern College, Orange City, Iowa. Retrieved September 3, 2015.
  16. "NWC SGA". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  17. "NWC International Club". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
  18. "Red Raider Club". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  19. "Discipleship". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  20. "The Beacon". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  21. "IOWA - Sioux County". http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/IA/Sioux/state.html. National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved September 4, 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  22. "Midwest Regional College Rankings". U.S. News & World Report, L.P. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  23. "2015 100 BEST ADOPTION-FRIENDLY WORKPLACES - Industry Leaders" (PDF). Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  24. "Groundwater Guardian Green Sites". The Groundwater Foundation. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  25. "NWC Press Releases". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  26. "www.nationalservice.gov" (PDF). Corporation for National & Community Service. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  27. "NWC Press Releases". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  28. "NWC Music". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  29. "NWC Press Release". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  30. "NAIA Honors and Awards search page". National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  31. "2008 Distinguished Alumni Award". Northwestern College. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  32. "About Rob Roozeboom - RISE Above Ministries". RISE Above Ministries. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  33. "TFL Staff". The FAMiLY LEADER. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  34. Vander Plaats, Bob (2007). Light from Lucas: Lessons in Faith from a Fragile Life. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 9781589973985.
  35. "Mercy Health Network biography". Mercy Health Network/Mercy Medical Center. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  36. "2014 Distinguished Alumni Award". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
  37. "NWC Women's Basketball Coaches". Northwestern College. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  38. "Champ Free-Throw Shooter Shows The Way". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  39. http://www.nwciowa.edu/faith/missions/ssp/
  40. http://www.nwciowa.edu/spiritual-life/mission-opportunities/sos-team
  41. http://www.nwciowa.edu/ministry/sos/team.aspx
  42. 1 2 http://www.nwcraiders.com/football/playoff_history

External links

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